Over the last two decades, the value of
the Kingdom's exports reached a peak of SR404,480.9 million (U.S. $
118,965 million) in 1981, then declined to a trough of SR74,376.8 million
(about U.S. $ 20 billion) in 1986. The Kingdom's exports have expanded
steadily since 1987 and achieved a noticeable improvement in 1990 (see
Table 11 below). Total exports in 1990 increased by 56.5 percent to
SR166,339.2 million (U.S.$44,357.1 million) from SR106,241.2 million
(U.S.$28,330.9 million) in 1989. This rise in exports was due to the sharp
increase in oil production to help maintain international supplies and
stabilize prices during the 1990 Gulf crisis.

The main categories of Saudi exports
during 1990 were 74.11 percent crude oil; 16.9 percent refined oil; 5.71
percent petrochemical products and plastics and 3.99 percent other
commodities. During 1991 the value of the Kingdom's exports increased by
7.6 percent to SR178,974 million (U.S.$47,726.43 million). The main
categories of these exports were 78.1 percent crude oil; 13.3 percent
refined oil; 5 percent petrochemical products and plastics and 3.6 percent
other commodities. The non-oil exports recorded a marginal decline from
9.7 percent in 1990 to 8.6 percent in 1991.

The value of the
kingdom’s exports increased during 1992 by SR9,701 million (or about 5
percent), decreased by about 15 percent in 1993 and then edged up again
slightly by 0.5 percent in 1994. Table (12) shows the values of the most
important commodities of the Kingdom’s exports in 1994, in comparison to
1993. Table (13) reflects the values of the Kingdom’s exports, by main
commodities, for the period 1989-1993.

TABLE 12 *
VALUES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITIES
OF THE KINGDOM’S EXPORTS IN 1994 (Millions of Saudi Riyals)